The House Committee on National Security and Intelligence, on Thursday, quizzed the acting Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC Mr. Ibrahim Magu, over the $43.4m, £27, 800 pounds and N23.2m (about N13bn in total) found in an apartment at the Osborne Towers in lkoyi, Lagos.
The money, which has since been permanently forfeited to the Federal Government, belonged to the National Intelligence Agency, NIA.
It was learnt that members of the public, including journalists, were barred from attending the hearing.
The committee, led by Aminu Jaji, had also invited the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Mr. Godwin Emefiele; the National Security Adviser to the President, Maj. Gen Babagana Monguno (retd.), and the suspended Director-General of the NIA, Amb. Ayo Oke.
It, however, remains unclear when they will appear before the House.
A reliable source said, “Magu was grilled by the House on Thursday and he told them everything he knew about the money. The hearing is a secret one because of its security implications.
“The CBN governor is also expected to appear before the House because the money was part of the $289,202,382 taken from the account of the National Petroleum Investment Management Service domiciled in the Central Bank of Nigeria in February 2015.
“The money was reportedly given to the NIA based on the instruction of former President Goodluck Jonathan so the House wants the CBN Governor to give us more information on that. The NIA DG is also expected to explain why the money was kept outside of a financial institution.”
The source told our correspondent that the House could no longer wait for the Presidency to release its report on the investigation which was concluded on May 7.
Ekiti State Governor, Ayodele Fayose, had last week, urged acting President Yemi Osinbajo to immediately release the report and “act expeditiously on the report”, threatening to approach the courts to compel the acting President to release and act on the report if he failed to do so.
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